The recent arrest of a pro-government TV anchor has sparked a debate in India about press freedom and the journalists' ability to maintain neutrality and objective reporting. Murali Krishnan reports from New Delhi.
Police in Mumbai last week arrested Arnab Goswami, the owner and editor of Republic TV, amid growing concerns about the muzzling of press and free speech in India.
Goswami, a firebrand TV anchor who supports the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is being investigated for his alleged role in the death of Anvay Naik, an architect who designed his studio.
In 2018, Naik and his mother took their lives, with his wife accusing Goswami of not paying Naik's fee. She said her husband had left a suicide note in which he blamed Goswami for his death.
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Goswami and Republic TV deny allegations that they owed money to Naik.
On Wednesday, India's Supreme Court granted him bail after hearing his petition via video conference.
Goswami's supporters say there are political motives behind the arrest. They claim that Goswami was arrested because he accused Mumbai's police commissioner and Maharashtra's state government of covering up Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput's apparent suicide in June. In his shows, Goswami often criticized them for being lenient in their investigation into the actor's death.
Mixed reactions
India's ruling BJP condemned Goswami's arrest, with senior Cabinet ministers dubbing it a crackdown on the freedom of press in Maharashtra state, which is run by a coalition headed by the Shiv Sena party, a former regional ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP.
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Journalists, on the other hand, are divided over the issue. Many of them are critical of Goswami's right-wing views and his insulting behavior toward ideological opponents.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani, a journalist working for The Wire news portal, says that Goswami's case shouldn't be treated as a freedom of speech issue. "We need to put it outside the purview of free speech and freedom of expression because Goswami functions as a political player and not as an impartial journalist," she told DW.
But others believe that press freedom must be upheld irrespective of the journalist's ideological leanings.
The opposition Congress party, which is a coalition partner in Maharashtra state, has accused the BJP of "selective outrage," saying its ministers are silent when secular journalists are harassed and arrested by their own state governments.
#ArnabIsBack | Amid unprecedented support, Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami out of Taloja jail; Tune in to watch #LIVE here - 
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